In U.S. patent application No. 07/214,959, the polypeptide precursors for expression of mature subtilin and nisin, and corresponding gene sequences, are disclosed. As related in the parent application, these bacteriocins are of particular interest in that they contain unusual amino acids that are introduced subsequent to nucleic acid translation, presumably by specific enzyme mechanisms contained within the cell, and possibly on the ribosome. Thus, the parent application identifies the gene and amino acid leader sequence necessary for the expression of the polypeptide precursor which, upon undergoing posttranslational modification, results in the expression of the mature bacteriocin.
While these two antibiotics share considerable structural homology, as discussed in the parent application, they are quite distinct in certain chemical properties. Of particular importance is tendency of the subtilins to undergo spontaneous inactivation at a substantially greater rate than that exhibited by nisin. In aqueous solution at pH 6.8. spontaneous inactivation is accompanied by chemical modification of the dehydroalanine at position 5 of the mature bacteriocin, with a kinetic first-order t.sub.1/2 of 0.8 days. It is noted that the amino acid in the four position, Glu, bares a R-group on its carboxyl moiety, which may participate in the chemical modification of the adjacent amino acid residue.
Thus, nisin, which is resistant to inactivation at low pH and high temperatures, Hurst, Advanced Application of Microbiology, volume 27, pages 85-123 (1981) is widely used as a food preservative, Hurst, Supra as well as Jay, Food Microbiology, vol. 8, pages 117-143 (1983) and a treatment for bacterial infections, Sears et al, Journal of Diary Science 74, page 203 (1991). In contrast, subtilin's instability renders it of little practical value, despite having a broad spectrum of action. Jay, supra.
It is clearly a desire of those of skill in the art to obtain a mature form of subtilin which is resistant to inactivation and exhibits reasonable activity, to provide an antibiotic with the potential utility of nisin. This is particularly important in light of the increasing antibiotic resistance observed among microbial populations due to the widespread use of existing antibiotics. It is further desirable of producing subtilin forms from a Bacillus host to obtain improvements in yield, and take advantage of developments.